This years gifts

Being on a the snake team this year was a benefit on so many equations. I had many highs and although smaller low's, they hit very hard. The highs were being able to achieve a level of form with the sais. I really enjoyed working with the sais this year. It was my chance and a challenge to come up with a display of creativity on my behalf and from the input of others on the team. Even if they don't realize it, they're a big part of it and I feel pretty good about where the weapon form is. The demo we did on Canada Day was an awesome day and I felt humbled among the skill level that was displayed by the team that day on all fronts. It was great to be able to show up and help out the team whenever I had the chance to do so. Meeting people and working with them on a different level than Kung Fu is always beneficial and it feels better to step up to respect your commitment when an opportunity arises. Next up was the Tiger Challenge. This was the best day of the year. On this particular event you get to see all the hard work and training come out. It was probably the most casual and humorous sparring/ point sparring I have ever witnessed at a school tournament. People were laughing and the atmosphere was just cool. It was extremely difficult for me to do my forms this year. Probably the most nervous I have ever been at anytime doing Kung Fu publically. Usually I can go into a zone and before I know it I'm done. This time my heart was beating like a Mac 10 and I thought my head was going to explode, I could sense a number of mistakes and felt very uncomfortable. But I did it and I feel good about it. Certain areas in my training have matured to a better understanding. I'm starting to see how things come together and  how to troubleshoot my Kung Fu. The awareness to what I'm doing has multiplied. My quantity is not as high as it should be, but the quality to what I'm doing is getting better. What little time I had for most of the year was spent breaking down everything I needed to fix in order to continue. This year has really given me a lot of difficulties but a vast amount of training and life knowledge by overcoming obstacles and making mistakes. I think the last thing I really liked, for the most part, was the board breaking. The public failings make you feel like you suck, but every time a board didn't break I learned something. That's all I can really think of for now.